


002. Middles

by sendricamp



Category: Real Person Fiction
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2013-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-23 02:56:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/921178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sendricamp/pseuds/sendricamp





	002. Middles

It was just a scratchy throat. Then a cough. Then, somehow overnight, Chad had perfected the act of dying from a cold. Hayley did find it cute – at first. He had taken care of her countless times while she had been sick but she was the leave her alone with the internet and movies type. Chad, however, turned out to be the cry and moan about anything and everything type. The bed wasn’t comfy. The room was too hot. The soup was too cold. If it had been Jeremy or Taylor, she would have given up, but this was Chad, and for some reason she wasn’t fed up yet.

So when the soup was too cold, she reheated it without complaint. She turned the air up to cool the bedroom down – even if it meant that she had to curl up on the couch in a hoodie – and she made sure the pillows were arranged for maximum comfort. Once he had eaten and she had conned him into taking more Nyquil, she retreated to the couch of his apartment, pulling his favorite hoodie around her tightly and turning on the TV. Keeping the volume to a minimum, she found some cartoons and relaxed, texting Kat with enough questions about her pregnancy to spur the older woman into asking Hayley if she was considering approaching the kids subject with chad.

It sent her mind reeling, for once, because she couldn’t just brush the subject off. Giving up on texting, she pressed the call button, pressing the phone to her ear. The second it connected, the words were falling from her mouth. “That’s normal, right? I mean, when I see him with his nephews, I just... I can’t stop myself from thinking what he would be like as a father,” she gushed.

“Hello to you, too,” Kat said, the smile evident in her voice. “And, yes, wanting to have a baby with your epic love is completely normal. Cad is going to make a wonderful father one day. When you and him are both ready,” she added.

Hayley bit down on her bottom lip. “That’s the thing,” she started, hesitance in her voice. “Chad has been ready. He says just since last summer but I overheard him telling his brother that he knew I was going to be the mother of his children the first time I smiled at him. How did you know that you were ready?” she asked.

The line was silent for a few minutes. “To be honest, we weren’t. This was completely unplanned. We were shocked and scared, and we gave ourselves the two months between then and now to really come to terms with it. Do you think you are ready?”

Letting the information and question sink in, Hayley pulled off the hoodie and stepped out onto the balcony. “I am. It’s time I stop using my career and the eventual inability to tour as excuses. I want to be a mother. I want to see Chad holding our child for the first time with that goofy grin on his face. I want to turn the spare room in Franklin into a nursery. I want the sleepless nights and the sexless months,” she said, laughing when she realized she was crying. “I am so in love with him, Kat. If he dropped down on one knee tonight and asked me to marry him, there would be no hesitation in me saying yes.”

A laugh came through the phone. “Now you do understand it,” she said. “The way you always used to make fun of Jere and I for looking like lovesick puppies? We’ve been saying that about you and Chad for years. I know you are still hesitant over all the drama and mistakes when you two first got together, but look at you now.”

Hayley cringed. “I call that making enemies 101,” she mumbled. “I still get shit for wrecking his marriage. I guess I am the easy one to blame. It wasn’t like it was the perfect marriage. Sherri and Chad both had a hand in it and I should have known better than to climb into bed with a married man.” Any trace of a smile was now long gone, replaced with more sad tears.

“I know,” Kat murmured, and all Hayley wanted was to be back in Franklin, sitting on the couch with Kat. When Jeremy had told her he wanted to propose, she had been overjoyed. Sure, she had two younger sisters but Kat was like the older sister she never had but so desperately needed when her world crashed down around her. “I hate saying this, but you need to let it go.”

“I know I do. I mean, Chad and I are happy and that should be all that matters, right?” she asked. “Sherri and Max have their own little family and are happy so I need to stop letting the past define my now… or some shit like that,” she chucked. “But let me dwell a little more. Like, I still get shit from people and Chad gets shit from people. I hear home wrecker, slut and dumb kid, but he has to sit there and think about how his actions directly affected her.” She paused for a moment. “Sometimes, I wonder if their marriage could have been saved. I mean, say Chad and I only did it once. Could they have worked past that? Would they still be together and married and have a family of their own?”

“Hayles…”

“No, I need to get this out!” she snapped. “Because what if Josh and I had never fallen apart? There are so many variables in this situation. I mean, I thought I was in love. I would have done anything for him but all I did was change from the person he fell in love with! So what if Chad and I get this happy family but then he realizes I changed from the person he fell in love with?”

Kat sighed – not a tired sigh but a sigh like all she wanted to was hold Hayley and tell her it was going to be okay. “You and Josh were fourteen when you started dating. What he called changed was nothing more than growing up. When Chad fell in love with you, he fell in love with a grown woman, not a teenager who had to grow up too fast,” she said, the calmness of her voice having a soothing effect on Hayley. “I will make time to tell you every single day that Chad loves you. He would be long gone by now if he didn’t.”

“How can you sound so sure about that?” Hayley sniffed.

Kat laughed. “I’ve seen you and Chad go for the throat, but at the end of it all, you two are always right by each other. There is nothing in this world that can tear the two of you apart, not even the doubts in your own mind.”

Hayley nodded, despite knowing that Kat couldn’t see her. “Why do you always know the right words to say?”

“It’s a gift,” Kat replied. “Where is Chad now? And for that matter, where is my husband?”

Letting out a bark of laughter, Hayley wiped at her tears. “Chad is in bed sleeping like a baby because his nephews got him sick and as for your husband, Jere and Taylor went down to Universal for the day. I was planning on sleeping but you know me when my mind gets going.”

“Get some rest and take care of Chad. I’ll let Jere have his bro-date in peace. Just have him call me when he gets back there. Take care of yourself, too. When you are back in Franklin, we can have our own little girl’s day, alright?”

“I am going to hold you to that. I like you more than Jere, but don’t tell him I said that. Bye,” she laughed, ending the call. She headed back into the apartment, turning off the air before heading to the bedroom. Stopping in the doorway, her eyes took in the sight. Chad had burrowed himself into the pillows and blankets. “I knew you would be cold,” she muttered, moving to the bed. Shoving the blanket aside, she climbed into the bed.

“You’re going to get sick,” he croaked out.

Interlocking their fingers, she pulled his arm around her and grinned. “You’re worth it.”


End file.
